BC’s new nature trail

by CAMILLE CHIN  July 2017

Now open: the 13-kilometre Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail connecting Greater Victoria with the Cowichan Valley and closing the gap in The Great Trail. (Nine kilometres were also added to the Cowichan Valley Trail to make the connection.) While the Great Trail, formerly the Trans Canada Trail, has been criticized because much of the 24,000-kilometre route requires walking or cycling on roads and highways, most of the Sooke Trail cuts across rivers, through forests and over hilltop in the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve. It offers safer opportunities for hiking, cycling and horseback riding, but it’s unpaved and challenging so not for all ages and novices. Key features include a 41-metre suspension bridge across the Goldstream River at the south end and hilltop vistas at the north end. The trail’s opening required cooperation from a number of communities, including the Malahat Nation. crd.bc.ca/project/capital-projects/sooke-hills-wilderness-trail.

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